


you control the tempo

by camphollstein



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, F/F, they make out a lot, which is honestly all we want right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camphollstein/pseuds/camphollstein
Summary: Korra and Asami meet at Future Industries' end of the year party and get along famously.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i found this sitting in my drafts folder and i figured the two-year anniversary of the True Miracle would be a good day to let it see the light of day

 

 

There's a long standing tradition in Future Industries of throwing a end of the year party. None of that sitting-around emotional crap, but an actual party with loud music and fancy drinks. No one knows who started it; it might've been Wu, who drunkenly started a break-dance competition at the bar near the offices. But it stuck through more than a decade, and it is Asami's duty, as the new acting CEO, to perpetuate it.

 

It's a nightmare, obviously, to prepare. She needs to clear out the top floor, get catering, get bartenders, a DJ, someone to make the place look pretty... There's no end to the damn list, and it's the number one cause of her headaches for almost a month.

 

But finally, _finally_ , the day of the party comes. Everyone, from the VPs to security, mills about the room, talking loudly over the frankly great music.

 

Her VP, Opal, flits into the room, making a beeline for the bar. Asami watches as all the men – and some girls – look at her as she gracefully orders and smiles at the bartender. Then they look as Opal walks up to the balcony to give Asami her gin and tonic.

 

“Bolin brought a girl,” she promptly says. Asami cringes in sympathy. “And she's gorgeous.”

 

“Ouch. Do you know if they're together?”

 

“I didn't really feel like watching them.”

 

Asami glances at the party; Bolin's large shoulders are noticeable in the middle of the floor, especially since he seems surrounded by women. By the dance floor, a girl with short hair and a blue button-up talks to Mako, her back to them. She can't tell if Mako likes her- he has that same stoic look as he does everywhere.

 

“She's not with him,” she tells Opal, who whips around so quickly it hurts Asami's own neck. “He's dancing with the girls from IT.”

 

Opal huffs and takes another sip from her pink drink. “They have a bet.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“A bet over who can get him into bed first.”

 

Asami narrows her eyes. “Like he's a piece of meat? Spirits.”

 

“Some of those girls think they're still in college. Them and the boys at marketing. I swear it looks like a 90's movie at the fifteenth floor on Friday.”

 

“Should I do something?”

 

Opal laughs. “Nah, it's entertaining. Besides, Bolin doesn't sleep around. Last I saw, he was still nursing a broken heart over that Supergirl-isn't-real business.”

 

“I will never understand your taste in men.”

 

Opal laughs – an uplifting, clear sound, that echoes and bounces off the walls – and pulls at Asami's wrist. “You need to dance. And drink more.”

 

“What?” she says, clinging to the railing. “No! I don't. Honestly, Opal-”

 

Opal tugs at her again, more forcefully. Now Asami is legitimately gripping the railing, eyes wide with fear. “Stop being a shut-in for once and talk to your employees!”

 

“Opal- no. It's weird. I'm their boss. No.”

 

It's scary how quickly Opal's grip changes. Asami, a six-feet tall woman, is unceremoniously dragged off; she looks forlornly at the beautiful, empty balcony.

 

She protests up till they approach the bar. Jinora, who has just gotten her drink, stifles her giggles behind her hand as Opal shoves Asami onto a stool.

 

“You enabler,” she says to Jinora, eyes narrowed. Jinora shrugs and signals the bartender to refill Asami's drink. “You're evil.”

 

“And you need to let loose a little.”

 

“You don't leave your office, you don't leave the building- I saw your pull-out couch and the dozens of clothes you leave in that hidden closet by the window. I'm not joking around,” Opal says with her Beifong voice. It's one of the most intimidating things in the world, only surpassed by Lin Beifong's glare and Pema's raised eyebrow. “You need to get drunk.”

 

“This is literally the worst place in the world for me to do that,” she whisper-yells. “No one here should see me drunk!”

 

Jinora leans in with a mischievous glint to her eyes. “You know that girl in blue,” she points at the person talking to Mako. “Who Bolin brought?”

 

“Yes,” Opal grunts. “I saw that.”

 

“Her name is Korra. She grew up with me. She's best friends with Bolin and Mako.”

 

Asami leans back to take a good look at her. All she can see is the back of her- but she does appreciate her ass.

 

“What of her?”

 

“You should sleep with her.”

 

Asami almost spits out her drink. “What?”

 

"You heard me."

 

“What?” Asami repeats in a higher register. Opal rests a hand on her shoulder and nods sagely.

 

“Do you need us to explain sex to you, Asami? Has it really been that long?”

 

She glares at both of them. Jinora only grins. And Opal keeps that self-satisfied smirk on her face. She shrugs her hand off.

 

“Did we go back to college or something?"

 

Bolin suddenly appears by the bar, his face red with excitement and – probably – alcohol. He grins at Asami and Jinora, but almost breaks his face in half at the sight of Opal. Her friend's cocky attitude immediately disappears; Opal tucks a hair behind her ear, looking down. Asami pokes at her back in payback.

 

“Hey, girls,” he says, putting a hand on the counter by Jinora. It slips a bit, and he almost falls, but still catches himself. With his pretend-suave voice, he continues, “How's it going?”

 

In a tightly controlled voice, Asami answers, “Good. Are you having fun, Bo?”

 

“Yes, yes.”

 

Opal points at Mako and Korra. “Who's your friend?”

 

“Oh yeah- that's Korra. She's pretty great.”

 

Jinora smirks at Opal. “Just a friend?”

 

“Yeah- yeah, a friend,” Bolin rushes to explain. Asami drinks so she won't laugh. “Never anything more- why would it- never!”

 

Asami nods helpfully, even though she really just wants to cackle at Bolin's flailing. Jinora winks at her.

 

“Oh,” says Opal.

 

It's always hilarious when Opal tries to play coy around her crushes, because Asami knows she's dying on the inside. It's also funny to try to break that facade; Jinora and Asami are on that case.

 

This time, though, Asami is intrigued by something else. Namely, the fact that Bolin seems to be waving Mako and Korra to join them. Her eyes turn the size of saucers; she shakes her head minutely at Jinora.

 

_'Get me out of here!'_ she mouths, but Jinora only swirls her drink with a grin. Asami, who sees herself quickly running out of options, empties her drink in a single gulp.

 

“Korra,” Bolin says. “These are Opal and Asami.”

 

She puts her best fake-smile on and turns to greet the girl, only to stop short. Jinora failed to mention that Korra is, apparently, a _goddess_ on Earth. Asami can't string a full sentence. She feels as if she's been punched in the face.

 

“Nice to meet you,” Korra says with a smile, and Asami can feel the sudden knot forming on her stomach. Then blue eyes turn to her. “Finally.”

 

“You too, Korra,” she says. Thankfully, her voice shifted back at her second drink, and by now she has a permanent bedroom voice. Her talking skills have returned. “Are you having fun?”

 

Korra licks her lower lip, bites it, and smiles. “Yeah, actually." 

 

Her jaw looks cut from marble. And that smile- how is this girl even real?

 

“Great,” is what she says. “I'm glad. Do you want a drink?”

 

She can feel Opal's small smirk of victory and Jinora's mental fist-bump, but right now she's more worried about getting Korra to talk more.

 

“Sure.”

 

Korra sits down beside Asami. She orders something fruity and turns to Asami, arm resting on the counter. As if she's being pulled in, Asami shifts to look at her too. They have to lean forward to hear each other, and if she leaned a bit closer, she could touch Korra's forehead.

 

“So, you're the boss?”

 

Asami runs a hand through her own hair; Korra's eyes follow the movement, and it sends a thrill up her spine. “Yeah.”

 

Korra whistles. “That's impressive.”

 

“Not so much when you've inherited the place, but thank you.”

 

“Don't sell yourself short. Bo and Jinora tell me you're great at your job.”

 

Asami smiles. “I try. They help me a lot.”

 

The drinks come back; Asami takes a sip of hers, while Korra happily eats the pineapple garnish. It gives her time to look at her. Korra has a fancy-looking dress shirt on, the line of her neck tantalizingly hidden beneath the fabric- she unwittingly licks her lips at the thought.

 

It's odd, how drawn to Korra she is. But she's mesmerized by the curve of her jaw, the shape of her waist, the strength in her hands. Even though she's known her for barely five minutes, Asami has the urge to see her close her eyes, to have her hands on Asami's hips. She could attribute it to how long it's been, but Asami has never felt this way for someone before. Maybe it's just a Korra thing.

 

Korra presses on the subject of her work; her eyes light up with interest when she discovers Asami's true passion is engineering. She manages to wrangle Asami into several explanations of engines and levers, during half of which she's staring at Asami's lips. But Korra remains focused on Asami's words, like she actually wants to get to know her, and it's been so long since someone has done. Asami doesn't quite know how do deal with it, and ends up trying to turn the tables.

 

“What do you do, Korra?”

 

Korra scratches at her chin- she's shy? “I play football for the Fire Ferrets.”

 

Her eyebrows shoot up. “ _That's_ impressive.”

 

“Says the CEO.”

 

“I'm being honest!” Asami says, reaching over to touch Korra's upper arm. “It is!”

 

“Thanks, Sato.”

 

“You made it to the semi-finals last season, right?”

 

Korra raises an eyebrow. “You watch soccer?”

 

“Bolin told me about it. I don't really- I might, now.”

 

And it's a deliberate attempt to make Korra use the opportunity- a flick of her hair and a sideways look. She's never shown her hand this quickly; but the alcohol is starting to go to her head, and the way Korra looks under the mood lighting is simply unreal.

 

Korra's mouth stretches into a slow smile. She gets up, slides her drink closer, and stands next to Asami's bar stool. She feels her whole upper body turn alight. “You should,” Korra says, eyes on her mouth. “It's pretty great.”

 

“I don't know,” Asami breathes. “I can try, though.”

 

“It's worth it.”

 

Korra gets closer and closer- but not close enough. Asami stands up, leans her back against the counter. She doesn't think about the bartenders or what her friends are doing and who is watching; she can feel Korra's breath on her lips, can feel the slight shift of Korra's head, her scent enveloping her. It's like she's in a haze of blue eyes.

 

“Asami?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Are we still talking about football, right now?”

 

And that's all she needs. Asami leans forward and a bit down, at last letting their lips connect. It's sweet at first; Korra keeps her hands off of her and only responds, but then Asami gets a hand on her neck and pulls her in a bit more.

 

Then there are hands on her waist and teeth at her lower lip, and suddenly all the effort she put into this damn party is worth it.

 

She wants to be closer, ever closer, wants to run her hands through Korra's stomach and back, wants to taste the soft skin by her collarbone, wants to find out what makes Korra tick. But right now, she just really, really wants to keep kissing her.

 

Korra holds her gently, without pressure. It's a reassuring, warm feeling that spreads through her and up to her ears. Everything about her is kind; she moves a hand to cup Asami's jaw, traces her cheekbone with a thumb, lets her make decisions. It's all such a far cry from any one-night stand she's every had that it fills her with a bright, almost happy feeling.

 

But then she realizes that it's probably her feeling faint and breaks the kiss.

 

“You okay?” she asks, putting some distance between them. Asami reflexively tightens her hold on her, getting a low chuckle from Korra.

 

Deciding to be honest, Asami bashfully says, “I forgot to breathe.”

 

A cheeky grin is her answer, and Asami swats at Korra's back for it. “That's a glowing review.”

 

“Stop that.”

 

“What?” Korra says. “I'm not doing anything.”

 

Asami narrows her eyes. She leans in, but not to kiss Korra's mouth; instead, her lips find her jaw, peppering little kisses on the way to her ear. Korra's hand on her waist flexes and her head moves to allow more access.

 

She leaves an open mouthed kiss by the top of her neck, then again a bit lower. Then she quickly flicks her tongue against Korra's skin, and the sharp intake of breath is music to her ears.

 

“What are you doing?” comes Korra's strained voice.

 

“I'm not doing anything.”

 

She bites Korra's earlobe, licks at it and up to the shell of her ear, a wicked grin forming on her lips at Korra's irregular breathing. “Don't forget to breathe,” she says on her ear, and the answering shiver only encourages her to continue.

 

“Asami.”

 

The underlying warning on Korra's tone makes her go back again, pull on the lapels of her shirt, and kiss her. To her satisfaction, she seems to have gotten under Korra's skin- the girl now pushes her fully against the counter, hands wandering. In under thirty minutes, Korra managed to completely floor Asami, turning her into some heady teenager with a crush.

 

There is a lull in the music and suddenly Asami can hear the conversations around them. She pulls away slowly, feeling red spread throughout her face. Instead of facing any of her friends – who are certainly looking at her smugly – Asami hides her face in Korra's neck. It's like she's in college all over again, heart pounding and a laugh threatening to escape.

 

Korra holds her close, strong arms over Asami's shoulders, almost managing to hide her from the world. She feels Korra's chest move as she talks to someone over Asami's shoulder, and she smiles as Korra's whole body rumbles as she laughs.

 

Somewhere on the recesses of her mind, Asami finds it very odd to be this comfortable around a virtual stranger. It's a well-known fact that she warms up to people slowly. But, right then, she doesn't really care about why this is all happening, content in only holding Korra close.

 

Someone taps her forearm repeatedly, though, and Asami has to look over at Jinora.

 

“What?”

 

“Bolin and Opal are dancing,” she shouts, eyes wide. Asami hurriedly spots Bolin's back somewhere over Korra's shoulder. “They're dancing!”

 

“Is this actually happening?”

 

Mako shows up behind Jinora, hands wrapped around a double whiskey. He has a giant shit-eating grin; one that she very much wants gone. “You owe me fifty bucks, Sato.”

 

Korra turns around to look too, laughing; she keeps a hand on Asami's lower back, though.

 

She scoffs. “Must we put a value to your brother's happiness, Mako?”

 

“Everything has a price. Pay up.”

 

“I think I'm going to cry,” Korra fake-sniffs. “He's grown so much.”

 

“Now it's your turn, Jinora,” Asami sing-songs, poking her on the side. “Now you have to ask Kai out. No more hiding.”

 

Jinora stares at her. When Asami doesn't flinch, she throws back her drink in one fell swoop. “I'm not drunk enough for this.”

 

“This beats last year's party.” Mako says, happily.

 

Asami pulls Korra's back to her, standing up so she can rest her chin on her shoulder. Korra melts into her. “I'm pretty fond of it, actually. It was entertaining. Especially Wu's serenading.”

 

Korra awws and Mako scowls over his cup. “Don't bring that up again.”

 

“I thought it was cute.”

 

At Asami's ribbing, Korra turns to Mako with a cheeky grin; she looks so good that Asami has to lean into her and kiss her cheek. Whatever Korra says gets lost in Asami's ears, focused as she is on the smell of her hair.

 

“Sato,” Jinora calls, taking Asami out of a moment again. She contains the urge to huff. “Are you going to make a speech this year?”

 

Mako shakes with laughter at that. Asami's eye twitches. “No.”

 

“You gotta.”

 

“I'll never make a speech, Jinora. That's what I pay you for.”

 

“C'mon,” the girl whines. “It'd be the greatest thing.”

 

“No.”

 

Mako recovers enough to say, “We really need to get you some public-speaking classes.”

 

“Where's Wu?” she says then, for the glory of seeing Mako's face shut down. “Maybe _he_ wants to make a speech.”

 

“Where _is_ Wu?” Korra adds pensively. “I kind of want to see the infamous Mako-blush.”

 

“I'm going to kill Bolin.”

 

“Aw, Mako. It's okay to have a crush.”

 

“Fuck off- I don't have a crush. I just don't like that he says those things when everyone is looking-”

 

“Would you rather he said them in private?”

 

Korra's neck looks too enticing for Asami to keep on paying attention; she simply has to kiss it again and again, ignoring Jinora's loud giggles and people bumping into them. When Korra slips her hands under her shirt to circle around her back, she falls even deeper. She's wholly unfocused on anything but the smooth skin presented to her, so much so that she doesn't care about whether or not she's leaving lipstick stains.

 

After she sucks particularly hard at the base of Korra's neck, Korra nudges her up, one hand on her hair, and kisses her hotly. Her lips are almost branding, and she holds Asami so close to her body that she can feel the buttons of her shirt through her dress.

 

“You really shouldn't be kissing me like that in your own company party,” Korra murmurs against her lips, her breath hot on Asami's skin. “It's not very proper.”

 

“I think you'll find I'm not very proper,” is Asami's distracted answer. Talking is really not her objective, right now. She feels heat start to spread from her neck to her ears at what she's about to say, but the look Korra is giving her really doesn't give her space to think. “Why? Did you want to move this someplace else?”

 

A slow, dangerous smile spreads through Korra's face. She brushes their noses together and then leans up to whisper on Asami's ear, “Thought you'd never ask.”


End file.
